The Storm
by Dreamcatcher2012
Summary: What's next for Aria/Ezra? A story about the immediate effects of exposing their relationship to Byron and Ella.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N**

**Here's a new story about what's next for Aria and Ezra. I incorporated some of the clips from upcoming previews to guide the story. I'm only expecting this to be a short story, maybe 3-4 chapters. Hope you all enjoy!**

CHAPTER 1

Aria's POV

I had been wandering around town for the past hour. Byron and Ella thought I was at Spencer's with the rest of the girls, but I just needed sometime to myself to think and escape the icebox that currently is my home. Since Ezra and I told my parents about our "unconventional" relationship, I have been on lockdown and forbidden to see him. It has been the most difficult few days, and I never expected it to get this bad. I glanced up at the clock in the center of town and realized I should probably be getting back soon, my parents were going to call Spencer's to make sure I was there and I had to be there to answer the call. As I took a deep breath trying for the umpteenth time in past few days trying to pull myself together, it started to pour. Great, I thought, just what I needed.

Suddenly, without any warning, I burst out in tears. I can't do this anymore, I thought, it's all too much, Ezra, my parents, A, the girls, how am I supposed to figure all of this out on my own? With my tears flowing, I continued to stumble in no particular direction, crippled by my thoughts and never ending salty tears staining my cheeks. Before I know it, I'm jolted by cars honking at me. I'd stepped out in the middle of the street completely oblivious to my surroundings. And then I heard it, the voice I have been dying to hear, the voice of the man I loved- Ezra.

"Aria, Aria," Ezra shouted at me, his face blurred by the downpour. "What are you doing out here?" he asked me, his face full of concern.

"I..I… I can't do this anymore, it's all too much, I need you," I blurted so quickly and jumbled that it was a miracle he could even understand me.

Ezra only responded by pulling me tightly in his chest and kissing my head, a comforting gesture I had learned to love. " I'm here," he said, " and I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what your parents say, I'm not leaving you, I can't."

With those reassuring words, I looked up to Ezra's eyes slowly touched my lips to his and responding when he depended the kiss. For a moment we didn't care about the cars honking at us to get out of the middle of the street, my parents, A, anyone or anything. It was as if we disappeared into a world where only we existed together and all of our problems washed away.

While I moved to reclaim my place snuggled in Ezra's chest, he spoke softly into my ear, "As much as I don't want this moment to end, I think we should probably get out of the middle of the road. Come on, let's get you warm. " Ezra guided me to his car and gently shut the door after me. At this point, all I could do was stare at the rain, hoping it would magically erase the pain and difficulty of the past few days. I had tuned out Ezra shutting his door and even missed his numerous questions directed at me. It was only when he place a hand lovingly on my leg that I was pulled out of my daydream.

"Sorry, what? I didn't hear what you said," I spoke quietly and with a puzzled look on my face.

"I was asking what you wanted to do. Where do your parents think you are? How did you get out of the house? The way Byron spoke to me yesterday, I was under the impression that he had you on lockdown…" Ezra responded, clenching his jaw as the last sentence left his lips.

"No, no it's fine, my parents think I'm at Spencer's working on an assignment," I said mindlessly, clearly still not fully paying attention to my current reality. "Wait, what did you say about my dad? When did you talk to him?" I frantically looked at Ezra, searching his eyes for any sort of answer.

It was clear from the deep breath he took in response and his immediate rubbing of the back of his head that he hadn't realized I was unaware of Byron's visit to his apartment. Ezra glanced out of his side window for a minute, clearly trying to think of the best way to explain what had happened to an already disheveled Aria. "Why don't we go back to my apartment for a bit, I can get you some dry clothes and then I can drop you at Spencer's. I don't want to chance your parents finding out that we met tonight. I don't want things to get any worse for you," Ezra responded assertively while guiding the car towards his apartment and navigating through the downpour that had yet to stop.

He was clearly trying to steer the conversation away from the topic of yesterday's apparent interaction with Byron. I mean I can understand my father's hostility at home this morning before leaving school. But, I didn't really expect him to immediately track Ezra down and attack him. With all of these thoughts racing through my head as I tried to get a grasp on the situation, I brought the conversation right back to Ezra's last comment. "When did you talk to my father? I don't understand, you weren't teaching yesterday, so you obviously weren't at Hollis. Did he come to your apartment? What happened?"

"Aria, why don't we just wait until we get back to the apartment Aria, we need to get you out of those soaked clothes, you're going to get sick," Ezra spoke as he carefully drew circles lovingly on my leg.

"No, Ezra, if we're going to make it through this, you need to tell me everything. We can't keep secrets like this from each other. So tell me, I need to know what he said to you," I spoke with confidence while I steadied Ezra's hand by placing mine on top of his.

We had come to a red light and he looked over at me, obviously attempting to decide if he could just brush off my questions. He faced forward once again and as the light turned green, he once again set the car in motion and began to explain carefully, " I, uh, I was at my apartment yesterday when your father came by… he said he needed to talk to me about the conversation you and I had with him and Ella at the house. I don't know what I thought he was going to say, but I knew from the moment he walked in the door that the conversation was not going to end well. He was so tense. It was if he had psyched himself up for the conversation and wasn't going to back down no matter what." Ezra paused once again and it was obvious that he was finding it difficult to continue. I could see the lines of worry on his face and his knuckles whitened as his grasp on the steering wheel tightened. I had never seen Ezra this afraid to talk to me and to be honest, he was scaring me.

"Ezra, hey, listen to me, it's okay, just tell me. I can handle it, what did he say?" I spoke in the most reassuring voice I could muster even though I was petrified about what I was about to hear.

"At first he was somewhat understanding, he honestly took me by surprise, explaining that he knows it's difficult to navigate some student and teacher relationships and that he had obviously made some mistakes…. But then, he said I was never to see you again and that if he had to involve the police, he wouldn't hesitate to do so. Believe it or not, that wasn't the worst of it. The look on his face when he realized that we had been spending time in my apartment nearly tore him apart. It was if seeing my apartment and where our relationship developed that he truly realized our relationship was reality and not just a sick joke. I didn't know what to say, so I just didn't say anything and he left," Ezra finally finished, holding his breath waiting for my response.

Words weren't an option, I was too shocked to do anything but stare straight into the rain once again. Just when I thought the rain might be subsiding, a crack of lighting shot across the sky and thunder quickly followed. It was clear the storm was far from over and not just in a physical sense. Tears streamed down my face, but my expression didn't falter, and a look of pain and confusion remained on my face expressing everything I was feeling in that moment.

It was at this moment that Ezra pulled into the parking space in front of his building. "Let's just go inside," Ezra spoke softly as he moved to open his door. He quickly made his way to my door, opened it and offered his had. Without bothering to wipe away my tears, I immediately grasped his outstretched hand and we ran inside the door. While we might not be able to escape the unrelenting storm that we know as our lives currently, at least we could momentarily find some shelter away from it all in the apartment that had meant so much to us, 3B.


	2. Chapter 2

Ezra and Aria entered the apartment hand in hand and Ezra immediately moved to turn on a light. As the apartment glowed, they both instinctively released the breath they had been unconsciously holding. This was their oasis, their sanctuary away from the world. It was the only place they had ever been completely safe together and after the past few days they had, being in the apartment with each other again was a relief.

Ezra moved quietly through the apartment and began changing out of his wet clothes. Aria remained standing in the kitchen, just watching him mindlessly, soaking up every part of Ezra she could before she would be forced to leave him again. As Ezra finished pulling on his sweatpants, he called Aria over, "Aria, come here, you need to get out of those clothes, I don't want you to get sick".

Aria managed to make her way over to him, but it was obvious to him that she was completely emotionally drained and that any physical exertion at this point wasn't an option for her. So, Ezra reached out to Aria's frozen form and began to peel off her clothes as carefully as gently as possible. It was as if he feared she would break at any moment. Aria didn't move a muscle during this intimate exchange, instead, she just continued to watch him take care of her. 'Why couldn't her parents see how much they love each other?' she thought.

When Ezra had gotten Aria down just to her underwear and began to unfold his old Hollis shirt that she loved to wear, Aria finally moved. Without any warning, Aria immediately attached her self to Ezra in every physical way possible and began kissing him furiously. Her hands roamed his toned chest assertively, showing no sign of trepidation. Ezra responded of course, tangling a hand into her thick hair and placing the other on her hip, massaging it gently. After a minute, Ezra felt Aria's body pressing him towards the bed and her intentions became obvious to him immediately. She wanted to break every physical barrier between them and make love to him.

"Aria, Aria," Ezra moaned, his voice muffled by the presence of her lips on his. "Aria, stop, not like this, we aren't doing this tonight. I don't want it to be like this, an act of desperation. It should be a happy experience, not one that starts out of fear of losing each other," spoke Ezra confidently but sweetly. They were exhausted and if they rushed into this tonight, Ezra knew they would eventually regret it, she would regret it and he didn't want that for her.

Aria stepped back and glanced up at him, "You're right, I'm sorry, I've just missed you… and… and I'm worried we won't get another chance".

"I promise we will," Ezra responded lovingly with a soft smile upon his face. When he noticed Aria shivering from her still damp body and lack of clothing, he picked up his previously forgotten Hollis shirt and put it on Aria carefully.

"You're so beautiful Aria," Ezra said as he pulled Aria's hair out from being caught in his shirt.

With these words, tears appeared once again in Aria's eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks. "Can you just hold me?" she asked, seeking comfort in Ezra's arms.

Ezra moved towards the bed, pulled back the covers and gestured for her to get in. After she carefully crawled into the bed, he joined her and pulled her immediately against his chest. Aria's face found solace in the crook of his neck and she inhaled deeply, relishing in Ezra's scent. Ezra tried to comfort Aria as much as possible by rubbing circles on her back and whispering words of encouragement in to her ear saying - 'I love you' and 'you're safe' – over and over again.

A half hour passed and the two had yet to change positions, both of their bodies folded into each other.

" I should probably get you back to Spencer's soon," Ezra said with regret.

"Just a little longer?" Aria posed, her big brown eyes pleading with Ezra for just a little more time with him.

"Yeah, just a while longer couldn't hurt," Ezra responded as her resumed drawing circles on her back and snuggling against her.

Before they knew it, Aria and Ezra had fallen asleep. Their cares being left in reality as they slipped off to dreamland where their love was perfect and nothing would stand in their way.

With a loud banging on the door, Ezra awoke, confused as to where exactly he was and what was happening. He realized he and Aria had fallen asleep and glanced over to the clock. Reading 4:25 am on the clock, Ezra silently cursed as he untangled himself from Aria's embrace to go answer the door. He had no doubt who was behind it and so he mentally braced himself for what he was about to face. Taking a breath, Ezra reached his hand out to twist the doorknob and open the last barrier between him and his visitors.


End file.
